Nyla Sheritz knew she was being resurrected from death. As a Temple Maiden assigned to the Silver Alliance, being reborn continuously was both her privilege and a burden.
The sensation of resurrection was one that she could never get used to, Nyla suspected that no one could ever become used to it. Death was supposed to be final, there was a sense of completion that came to the mind the moment death arrived, and no matter the pain or burden in the heart, at that moment, at the threshold, there was peace.
Resurrection was Conflict. It tugs at the mind and spirit without mercy, it does not care if it caused any damage, for resurrection could heal any wound it caused, this makes it cruel.
The creator of the Citadel wanted an undying army, and in times of war, comfort and stability were not even in the terms of agreement, only necessity was king. It was why the experience was always different, death was darkness, finality… Resurrection was light, new beginnings, and the truth was every time Resurrection took from the dark, it left something of itself behind.
Unlike any other Explorers, a Temple Maiden was charged to strip off a portion of their Core Aura every decade, to ensure that they had an ample supply of their Core Aura in as many Citadels as possible. The first of their order had made a solemn vow that every Temple Maiden would see this war to its end, no matter the result that end might bring.
Their Ascendant Techniques made it impossible for them to run mad from splitting their Core Aura so frequently, but it did not aid them against the pain. They had learned to scream in silence because they knew that others may one day find rest in death, but their vow had forbidden them from this peace.
A Temple Maiden was a unique resource in the war effort. Their duty was to be the eyes and ears of the Council of Nine, and although Nyla knew that her fate was a grim one, it was a duty she faced without shrinking back, and the last death she faced was not the most painful but was surely one of the strangest.
Till this moment she hardly understood what had happened, except for the flames and the feeling of death digging into her soul with hungry claws and a lustful grin. Has she been corrupted? Surely the manner of her death warranted corruption, and this was also under the gaze of Calamity.
Every Temple Maid was unified in their creed and this was why when Nyla awakened it did not take her long to become furious, for she had died under the light of the Calamity Suns and that meant that she should have been given at least a century for any taint in her Aura to be cleansed before she was resurrected, but from her internal clock she noticed that barely fifteen days had passed, that meant that her resurrection procedure was enacted almost immediately.
This went against their creed. Temple Maidens were always resurrected, but under from their Temple Mothers, and the earliest a Temple Mother would ever agree to was a year.
No one else except a Temple Mother truly understood the burden every Temple Maiden carried, and they would always allow them the peace of death for as long as necessary, knowing that in return, the Maidens would fight against the madness until the end of everything.
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